What would our cities be if not for our trees? Without the blooming Cassia flowers, the fiery yellow Tabebuias, the bright purple Jacarandas and the myriad hues of the blooming flowers there would be no warmth in our modern concrete structures, the busy streets and the dull pavements. Thanks to the Arboriculturists thoughtful planning of the city there is no dearth of parks, shady trees and blooming flower trees all through the year.
A bangalorean can never be deprived of blooming flowers in the city. There is the blue bell shaped Jacaranda in the spring months, then the sheer yellows of Tabebuias.
As if to say that good things don’t last forever the sheer yellows disappear within a week and are slowly replaced by Peltophorum, Mangoes, Dolichandrone etc.
Summer is welcomed by the bright Gul Mohar or the May flowers, then pink Cassias pop up and Pagoda trees blooms. If you are lucky you still find Jacaranda popping up till May.
The wet seasons don’t hamper the blooms of Pagoda and Cassia Javanica. Sweet smelling flowers pop up more during this season like the Champak and the Akash Mallige. The autumn is the time to see orange-red blooms of Tulip Tree, and the winter there are the early blooms of Jacaranada and Tabebuias.
The list is by no means exhaustive and there are more than 100-200 exotic varieties and much more local varieties that grow profusely in the pleasant climate of Bangalore. And we need to thank Cameron, Krumbiegel,H.C Jayaraya,Mari Gowda and Sir Mirza Ismail for this.
Krumbiegel laid the foundations of city garden. He had very good support from Krishnaraja Wodeyar. H.C Jayaraya took over after Krumbiegel as superintendent of State Gardens. He was trained at Kew Gardens of London and he was responsible for planting flowering species such as Cassias in Bangalore. Sir Mirza Ismail and Mari Gowda were two others who were responsible for planning of gardens. The National Horticultural library in LalBagh is named after Mari Gowda.
The rocky barren Bangalore earned the title of Garden city due to the efforts of these arboriculturists. So the next time you walk on the traffic laden streets of the city, take time to ponder over these avenue/shady trees and savor a moment of gratitude to these visionaries.
Unhurried Tales 